Yes, I know that this is already the third Batman v Superman article we’ve posted today (fourth, if you count the tangentially related Wonder Woman Amazon reveal), but that’s what happens when a highly divisive movie is the biggest thing in the world right now. And Warner Bros are doubling down on keeping BvS in the public conversation by inexplicably deciding to release one of the deleted scenes that will be included in the upcoming R-rated Blu Ray Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will be out in the middle of the year.

This scene is part of the 30 minutes of additional footage that will be included in the cut, and it seems to show Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor in communication with some kind of monstrous character holding what appears to be Mother Boxes – the highly advanced technology used by the inhabitants of the planet Apokolips and which we see in the movie turn Victor Stone into Cyborg. And it’s kind of weird. Check it out below.

So who is that creature? Please for the love of all that is good in this world, let that not be Darkseid! Darryn is convinced it’s Zack Snyder’s monstrous version of Darkseid’s lieutenant Steppenwolf,and I have to admit that the headgear is similar, even though on Steppenwolf it’s actually armour.

Either way, this scene seemingly confirms to me something I felt while watching BvS: Despite it’s already long running time, the movie still felt like there were crucial connective scenes missing filling in some of the huge narrative logic gaps. And if this scene implies what I think it implies – namely that Lex Luthor was somehow in contact with Darkseid and the rest of his Apokalyptian court – then it would actually answer two big mysteries in the movie.

The first was how/why Lex knew to change Zod into Doomsday? Yes, the Kryptonian ship probably also gave him that info, but why he did it – or added his own blood into the mix – is a complete mystery. He had absolutely zero reason to create an unstoppable Kryptonian monster since his whole plan was to prove to the world that Superman is an unstoppable Kryptonian monster. But maybe he was acting under the influence of somebody else’s ulterior motive? Hell, maybe even driven a little bit cuckoo by that influence (as Darkseid’s influence has been known to do in the comics), which would explain his increasingly manic portrayal?

That is heavily implied in the film’s final moments, which suddenly has him rambling and screaming crazily about somebody that has found Earth, is very hungry and is on the way. That somebody is most certainly Darkseid (that was his Omega symbol and his Parademons in Batman’s “Knightmare” vision/dream) and it’s actually this scene that shows how he was contacted and given this knowledge.

Interestingly, Devin from BMD points out something quite interesting about David S. Goyer’s earlier draft of the script, that would have put a whole other spin on Lex’s outside influence:

Really worth noting: my understanding is that in the original Goyer draft or outline it was revealed that Brainiac was pulling the strings behind Lex, and he was the one who gave Batman visions. The reveal would set up the Justice League to battle Brainiac in Justice League 1, with Darkseid in the wings for Justice League 2. The Chris Terrio production draft dropped all the Brainiac/vision stuff… and then it ended up in the movie anyway, but without much explanation, like scenes were cut and pasted from one script to another without changing the context of any other scene.

Is it just me, or would that have made for a much better movie having Brainiac – a villain fans have been clamouring for for years – actually being the puppet master behind it all, playing some other long game? But nope, we needed that Flash teaser in there, hey Warner Bros?

A man of many passions - but very little sleep - I've been geeking out over movies, video games, comics, books, anime, TV series and lemon meringues as far back as I can remember. So show up for the geeky insight, stay for the delicious pastries.

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